China inflation slows as lockdowns ease

Inflation in China grew at its slowest pace since last October, official data showed Friday, falling from eight-year highs due to a drop in food prices as the country gradually lifts virus lockdowns.

Consumer prices jumped 4.3 percent in March year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, after increasing 5.2 percent in February.

This is lower than the forecast of a 4.9 increase by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Weak oil prices and suppressed demand due to drastic coronavirus measures meant that consumer inflation last month grew at the slowest pace since October, according to NBS data.

Pork prices -- the biggest contributor to consumer inflation -- started to soften as transport restrictions were lifted, slaughterhouses resumed work and local governments increased sales of pork reserves, the NBS said.

The price of China's staple meat -- which was already high after African Swine Fever ravaged the country's pig herds -- increased 116.4 percent in March compared with a year earlier, down from the 132.5 percent jump in February.

Dramatic lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the first few months of the year disrupted businesses across the country.

China's producer price index (PPI), reflecting the prices that factories charge wholesalers for their products, dropped 1.5 percent year-on-year last month, signalling that manufacturers continued to suffer from the pandemic fallout.

That was worse than the 0.4 percent fall in February and the 1.1 percent contraction expected in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

China in recent weeks has relaxed some travel restrictions after the domestic COVID-19 outbreak was brought under control and officials pushed for the resumption of work.